2018 Roundup

Well, 2018 has come to an end. And with the government shutdown, Democrats taking the House, and much more, I say this year has been . . . something.

The government shutdown has been going on for 10 days. Luckily, Donald's government shutdown is so unpopular, he has to blame everyone but himself. A recent poll found that only half of all Americans surveyed blamed the man who was given a spending bill that could have stopped the shutdown and didn't sign it. Or, only half of all Americans blamed the person who caused the shutdown.

Of course, the shutdown was over Donald Trump wanting taxpayers to fund his wall. I would give Trump credit for following through on his campaign promises if he didn't also promise us that Mexico would pay for the wall. What happened to that? Oh, and if the promise wasn't really stupid. 

Going into 2020, things are only getting worse for Democrats. Elizebeth Warren announced her run unofficially today. I think she would be a positive influence on the race, even if she's only one-half correct that's still better than who else I'm seeing.

CNN did a segment today on how Bernie can't win because he's an old white man. Despite the fact that our current president is an old white man (the spray tan makes it hard to tell, I know). They also tried to call him a pervert, although when he's running against the grouper in chief, I don't really think that matters all that much. 

Seriously though, let's just all take a minute and be happy Beto O'Rourke won't be president. All the polls seem to say it will either be Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders. I like Biden, I think he was a very good Vice President under Obama and a pretty decent Senator, even if he came in just at the time when Democrats couldn't figure out how they should feel about race. Rather either of them will run is still up in the air, but important news is where the polls line up.

Of course, CNN is trying to make Kamla Harris 2020 a thing. It's not going to be a thing, but CNN really doesn't seem to care. They've put her as there most likely to be the nomination for two months in a row, despite no poll done by anyone that isn't CNN saying this. 

Of course, the only candidate who has has a snowball's chance in hell is Richard Ojeda. He's a good center-left candidate, but he's not bad. He believes in healthcare for all, universal education, and increased taxes on the rich.

So what will happen in 2019? Let's find out together.

All About Law (The Ephrom Josine Show Ep. 141)

More Of The Same (The Ephrom Josine Show Ep. 123)

Health Care and Heat (The Ephrom Josine Show Ep. 107)

10 Things We Can't Afford While We Can Afford A Space Force

1. Give healthcare to the 45,000 people who die every year due to lack of basic healthcare.

2. Pay off the $1.5 trillion of student loan debt.

3. Continue funding Meals on Wheels.  

4. Continue funding welfare programs.

5. Not cut funding towards education.

6. Deal with the over half a million homeless people in our country.

7. Deal with the almost 40,000 veterans in this country.

8. Continue giving healthcare to poor people.

9. Continue giving healthcare to kids.

10. Pay off our $21 trillion national debt.

Does The Political Compass Test Mean Anything?

When someone starts getting into politics one of the most important questions, in fact, one of the only questions is where do they stand on the important issues. So many of them, instead of actually forming opinions, choose to go to the political compass test in order to get a basic idea. This test has also been one many YouTubers take in order to have their audience understand who they are. But one question has still not been answered, is it worth anything? 
So, in order to properly answer this question, we need to look at some more questions. Specifically, the questions on the official political compass test (link here) in order to find out if any of them are, well, good questions. In order to test this, I took a handful of questions from this quiz and decided to see if they have any major issues. So let's figure this out, together.

If economic globalisation is inevitable, it should primarily serve humanity rather than the interests of trans-national corporations.

This is the first question of the test and it shows one of the biggest problems with the test. It refuses to take into account that people regularly lie. Or, to use less loaded terms, most people don't like to think of themselves as the bad guys. No one is more hated than "the establishment", whatever that means.
Let me give you a real-world example. Many people believe that we should deregulate because it will cause jobs to come back here. Is that in favor of the corporations? They wouldn't. Afterall they're creating jobs.
Also, in the United States corporations are people. 

I’d always support my country, whether it was right or wrong.

No one thinks like this, even the people who we think are like this, aren't like this. Reagan for instance, human super-patriot, only got anywhere by criticizing Carter. George W. Bush did the same thing with Bill Clinton. They didn't always support their country. 

Our race has many superior qualities, compared with other racists

This question is directly asking you rather or not you're a racist. Even David Duke, the former KKK leader, doesn't think he's racist.

 The enemy of my enemy is my friend

This is a meaningless platitude. The test also gives you no context so this could mean anything. 
On a side note: When this country used this platitude we armed Osama Bin Laden.

Controlling inflation is more important than controlling unemployment. 

Most people aren't economists. Plus most economic philosophies don't care for either inflation or unemployment. 

Land shouldn't be a commodity to be bought and sold

This question is directly asking you "are you a communist". Again, no one says they're something that most people believe being against is a "no-duh". Especially a philosophy most people believe killed 100 million people. 

Those with the ability to pay should have access to higher standards of medical care

I think this question is trying to ask "do you believe in universal healthcare", but there's one huge problem, that's not what this is asking. The vast majority of people who believe in UHC are fine with private healthcare being an option. 

Abortion, when the woman's life is not threatened, should always be illegal. 

Again this question is trying to ask "are you pro-life" but it doesn't really ask that. It's better than the healthcare question to be fair, but not much. 
A lot of people, including many pro-lifers, would also include rape and incest in times abortion is fine. That would make them pro-choice according to this question. Even though most of society would say otherwise.

All authority should be questioned

This question is asking you "are you an authoritarian". And even then even most authoritarians would answer yes. They had to rise to power somehow after all. 

All people have their rights, but it is better for all of us that different sorts of people should keep to their own kind

This question is asking you rather or not you support "separate but equal". Which most people believe is the same as asking rather or not you're a racist. 

Good parents sometimes have to spank their children

This question has nothing to do with politics.

When you are troubled, it's better not to think about it, but to keep busy with more cheerful things

Second verse, same as the first.
In conclusion: These questions are meaningless and using them to describe your ideology is idiotic. 

So . . . Let's Talk About Brett Kavanaugh

So it's official. The president wants to make Judge Brett Kavanaugh the next Justice for the Supreme Court. So I figured it's fair that we actually look at the man Trump appointed and see what it says about the person who appointed him. So here are 5 things you need to know about the new Justice. 
1. He's Best Buddies With George W. Bush
Kavanaugh was one of the main voices that led to the outcome in the Bush v. Gore case. Bush then went and appointed him to the DC court of appeals. So, he basically owes most of his career to the second Bush.
He was also buddies with Karl Rove who praised Trump for choosing him. Here's Brett being buddies with Karl Rove:

But remember, Donald Trump is anti-establishment. 
2. Pro-Lifers Love This Guy
To give Brett credit, he did say he doesn't want to overturn Roe v. Wade. However, that doesn't anti-abortion groups aren't in love with this guy. Meanwhile, the only case he's ever done involving abortion was when he said an illegal immigrant could not get one. He's a blank slate, and that could mean anything. But his ties make many afraid he could go in the wrong direction.   
3. Believes Obamacare Is Unconstitutional 
Yes, a supreme court justice disagrees with the supreme court. Even though they determined the ACA was allowed Brett disagrees. Again, someone on the Supreme Court should more than likely understand how the court works. He also isn't a fan of net neutrality.
But don't worry. He does support the NSA. So at least he has that down.
4. He Was One Of The Main Voices In The Effort To Impeach Bill Clinton
Yup, another Republican lawyer who took place in trying to impeach Bill Clinton. Although he happens to also be against the Muller investigation. If you can't tell, he's kind of a partisan hack. 
5. He Takes The Constitution Literally, Except When He Doesn't 
If you watched Trump announce his pick for the court you would know the thing he values the most is someone who likes the constitution as is. Yet, NPR found him saying he supports "the spirit of the law" as well as the letter. Which means he believes the law is whatever he thinks it should be.   So that's everything you need to know about Brett Kavanaugh. In conclusion, god help us. 

3 Simple Ways To Pay For Universal Healthcare

This is something that we've heard over and over again. Whenever anyone announces they support Medicare for all, no matter who they are, the question that is imminently asked for is "how are you going to pay for it?". Mind you, these people often ignore how single payer would save most people money, but that's beside the point. 
Mind you, I'm not saying it shouldn't be asked. Of course it should. Have you seen our debt? However, the vast majority of the time it's not by someone who is curious or unfamiliar with the concept, it's by someone who already knows the answer and is asking so they can look like they came out on top. 
So, if they can have a copy paste response I think it's fair that we have one back. So here are 3 ways to pay for a universal healthcare system. 
#1-The Good Old Fashion Way
Yeah, it's the most obvious one, that's why it's the first. Figured we should get "raise taxes" out of the way early. 
Of course, this scares people who own Don't Tread On Me bumper stickers, but here are the facts. First off, these people typically don't understand how taxes work. Taxes are a fee that you pay for to the government. It's only fair that you, the person who pays the taxes, get something in return.
However, how high are the taxes? After all, taxes being too high can cause negative economic effects (which these people seem to think never happens the other way around, but that's beside the point). I mean Bernie Sanders, the man who made the idea popular, said he wanted a top tax rate of over 90%. Wait, no that Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower and Bernie just pointed it out. 
Here's the tax plan he actually proposed while running for president: 
 
Now, here's how many percentage points your taxes would increase:
$1-250,000: 0% (Your taxes stay the same)
$250,001- 411,500: 4%
$411,501-464,850: 2%
$464,851-499,999: -2.6%
$500,000-2,000,000: 3.4%
$2,000,001-10,000,000: 8.4%
More than $10,000,0001: 12.4%
So you would need to make over $10,000,000 to have your taxes raised over 10%, over $2,000,000 to have them raised more than 5%, and more than $250,000 to have them raised at all. 
#2-Enforce The Tax Laws We Already Have/Make Taxes The Same For Everyone 
We have lost AT LEAST $70 billion to tax havens in one year. How is that not illegal? We all know they do it, and if you did it you'd be convicted of tax avoidance. How is this not a crime?
How about for the fact that (except for a brief point in the '80's) the capital gains rate is smaller than the individual rate. So someone making $80,000 a year through work could be paying more in taxes than someone making $500,000 a year through investments.
How about ban those non-sense "economic development" programs that actively don't work. Remember Amazon, the company that paid no taxes last year. Meanwhile, Jeff is still one of the richest men in the world.
And don't think I'm not going to mention the inequality in payroll taxes. Social Security taxes, for instance, only taxes up to $128,400. And people wonder why it's going bankrupt. 
#3-Cut The Military
It previously seemed to be impossible make it more clear how cartoonish our military spending can be. Then Trump tried to create a space force.
As pointed out before, by the end of the Obama administration the United States had a military budget larger than the next 7 nations combined. We have over 800 military bases, including around Iran which the White House calls a giant threat. Bet John Bolton will never tell you that. 
Then, without any debate, we increased the military budget by enough to pay for public college. Because if we don't the communists will take over or something, seriously this is ridiculous. Yet, no one ever asks how we're going to pay for the billions we spend with the Pentagon.
And these are just 3 of the millions of way progressives have given over the years to pay for a program that every other country in the modern world has.    
              
     

Throwback: David Koch Runs For President

Note: This is more or less an updated text version of a video I made in January 2018. You can watch it here if you so choose. This post have been overall improved since the original version and as such is the definitive version.  
You ever heard of a libertarian. I don't blame you if you haven't, after all they typically aren't considered a big threat in our political sphere. However, despite what libertarians would have you believe, there is one group of people that love them, big business. David Koch ran as vice-president on the Libertarian ticket in 1980, it's as bad as you think. Those who watch The Thom Hartmann Program may know about this (watch it here), but Bernie also posted it on his website (read it here).
So what does it say? Well let's find out together.

We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission

So right of the bat we see where the Koch brothers lie of issues. They're spending $400 million and the midterms by the way. So of course this is going to be on the list. 

We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs

I guess 45,000 people every year isn't enough for the Koch brothers. To be fair I don't think they don't want people to die, I just think they really don't care. Also I'm going to be skipping some of these to keep from repeating myself.

 We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary

Senior poverty only went down because of Social Security, yet they seem to ignore that. But even then, Social Security would work if they stopped spending the money (notice how no other country has to deal with it going bankrupt). 

We support the eventual repeal of all taxation 

Tfw you try to make Reagan look moderate on taxes. Of course this would lead to a boom-bust cycle, of course these people don't care. 
Also remember people, low taxes are good for everyone and not just the rich. Trust David Koch to tell you that. 

We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended.

Because private schools never lead to indoctrination.

We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency

Would you like some Koch brand smoke with that air? Also here's there opensecrets.org page if you're curious. Notice how many of them deny climate change.  

We demand the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system

Anyone who knows how the toll road system worked during the industrial revolution knows how this will end up. Mainly, a large amount of toll roads. Hope you have quarters with you. 

We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration

Go to the supplement industry for your medicine if you really think that's a good idea. 
I think you get the idea at this point. Just be happy these nuts have basically no influence when it comes to actual policy.